You'd be forgiven for not knowing Micromax, but it's a name that might get a little more familiar in the future. The Indian smartphone manufacturer has hired Hugh Jackman to be its pitch person, and the first product you'll find him carrying is the surprisingly tasty-looking Canvas Turbo. The Turbo ...
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/qs4ZCCuaEtY/
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/bkGY_MlPpps/Jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen has a new album out called Claroscuro.
Jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen has a new album out called Claroscuro.
This interview was originally broadcast on Feb. 6, 2013.
Clarinetist Anat Cohen is one of a handful of Israeli jazz musicians making a mark on the American jazz scene. She's been voted Clarinetist of the Year six years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association, and her album, Claroscuro, showcases the range of her talents and musical influences, from New Orleans-style jazz to Israel to Latin music — particularly that of Brazil.
Cohen says that the clarinet's somewhat old-fashioned reputation may be the result of the very thing that attracts her to the instrument.
"[T]he clarinet is still associated with older styles, with folkloric music," she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "In Israel, the clarinet is associated with klezmer music and more folk music. So I think, in people's minds, it's something that is either dated or too religious. ... I'm working hard to put the clarinet in other scenarios that are not necessarily just folkloric or just traditional. ... I try to bring it to any kind of scenario and find its place."
This includes the music of Brazil. Cohen, who first encountered the country through friends she met as a student at Boston's Berklee College of Music, says Brazilians and the people of her native Israel are similar, and that that shock of recognition formed the spark of her initial attraction.
"We have this casual way of being with each other," she says. "But one thing that is different is they are much less suspicious of people that they don't know. And that's something that I found fascinating. ... We have an expression in Israel saying, 'Respect and suspect at the same time,' because you always want to know, 'What is this person about? And what are they after? And can I trust them?' And something about the nature of Brazilian people [is like], 'Okay, you're here, you're somebody's friend, you're our friends, we're all together, let's all be together.' And it applies to music. ... [T]he music is for everybody. The music is for the people. Everybody sings together."
On playing with a lot of breath in her sound
"It's kind of a no-no in the clarinet world, in the legit way of playing. But, you know, when you play jazz, I think, that the search for expression — that's what it's about. And if I want to say something and whisper it ... the air has an effect. It's like you're talking to someone, and you speak with more air in your voice. It gives a certain feeling. So it's just another vocabulary of sounds."
On being introduced to jazz by playing the music of New Orleans
"It was so new to me because, you know, that's not what you hear normally on the radio in Israel. So I just fell in love with the way it felt ... playing with everybody, everybody playing together, counter lines, trombone is playing melody, the other trumpet and clarinet playing lines behind it. Then, you get up and play a solo for 32 bars and that's it: Nothing is too exhausting, nothing is too long. It's just beautiful feeling. Everybody's smiling, everybody's happy. The music of New Orleans has this joy."
On how the singing style of cantors influenced her
"Cantors have an influence on anybody that listens, that is there. Because here is someone that is speaking out of their hearts and using one single melody, and all they do is express it in the most heartfelt way. And as a jazz musician — or as any musician — of course it would have an influence. I mean, that's what I try to do when I play music, when I play any music: When I play a cadence at the end of a song, you want to take one note and make it meaningful. And if you hear a cantor and they're doing it right, you're going to be so moved."
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 25-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Debra Levey Larson
dlarson@illinois.edu
217-244-2880
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
URBANA, Ill. If you want to eat healthier when dining out, research recommends surrounding yourself with friends who make healthy food choices. A University of Illinois study showed that when groups of people eat together at a restaurant at which they must state their food choice aloud, they tend to select items from the same menu categories.
"My conclusion from the research is that people want to be different, but not that different," said U of I food economist Brenna Ellison. "We want to fit in with the people we're dining with. It goes against the expectation that people will exhibit variety-seeking behavior; we don't want to be that different from others."
Ellison analyzed the lunch receipts from a full-service restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a period of three months. One section of the restaurant was the control group, with guests receiving menus with the item and price only. Another section received menus with calorie counts for each entre. And a third section had both the calorie count and a traffic light symbol that indicated caloric ranges: green traffic light items contained 400 calories or less, yellow light items had between 401 and 800 calories, and red light items contained more than 800 calories.
Although the data in the research were based on information from the paper receipts, because the research hinged on each of the three versions of the menus being used at specific tables in the restaurant, Ellison also went undercover at the restaurant to observe.
"I would help bus tables sometimes so that I could watch and make sure that the tables were getting the right menus," Ellison said. "Or I would send people in as 'secret eaters.' They could eat whatever they wanted. I just wanted to make sure that they got the right menu for that section."
Because she stopped by the restaurant every day to pick up receipts, Ellison said she was able to get additional information directly from the servers. "They said that people talked about the traffic lights a lot. And we did find that larger tables which received the traffic light menus did order fewer calories, on average, which suggests there was some peer pressure to order lower-calorie items," she said.
Receipt data was analyzed using a random utility framework, where the utility, or happiness, each individual receives from his or her food choice depends not only on the characteristics of that choice (such as item price, calories, etc.), but also on the characteristics of the choices of one's peers.
"The big takeaway from this research is that people were happier if they were making similar choices to those sitting around them," Ellison said. "If my peers are ordering higher-calorie items or spending more money, then I am also happier, or at least less unhappy, if I order higher-calorie foods and spend more money.
"The most interesting thing we found was that no matter how someone felt about the category originally, even if it was initially a source of unhappiness, such as the items in the salad category, this unhappiness was offset when others had ordered within the same category," Ellison said. "Given this finding, we thought it would almost be better to nudge people toward healthier friends than healthier foods."
One piece of information that wasn't included in the data is who ordered first at each table. Ellison said she wants to have this piece of information the next time she runs a similar experiment. "Previous studies have shown that if you don't have to order audibly, everyone just gets what they want without any peer pressure involved," she said. "Research suggests that you should always order first because the first person is the only one who truly gets what they want."
###
"I'll Have What He's Having": Group Ordering Behavior in Food Choice Decisions was presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association's 2013 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Jayson Lusk contributed to the conceptualization of the work. Ellison gathered the data while at Oklahoma State University but did the analysis in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the U of I.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 25-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Debra Levey Larson
dlarson@illinois.edu
217-244-2880
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
URBANA, Ill. If you want to eat healthier when dining out, research recommends surrounding yourself with friends who make healthy food choices. A University of Illinois study showed that when groups of people eat together at a restaurant at which they must state their food choice aloud, they tend to select items from the same menu categories.
"My conclusion from the research is that people want to be different, but not that different," said U of I food economist Brenna Ellison. "We want to fit in with the people we're dining with. It goes against the expectation that people will exhibit variety-seeking behavior; we don't want to be that different from others."
Ellison analyzed the lunch receipts from a full-service restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a period of three months. One section of the restaurant was the control group, with guests receiving menus with the item and price only. Another section received menus with calorie counts for each entre. And a third section had both the calorie count and a traffic light symbol that indicated caloric ranges: green traffic light items contained 400 calories or less, yellow light items had between 401 and 800 calories, and red light items contained more than 800 calories.
Although the data in the research were based on information from the paper receipts, because the research hinged on each of the three versions of the menus being used at specific tables in the restaurant, Ellison also went undercover at the restaurant to observe.
"I would help bus tables sometimes so that I could watch and make sure that the tables were getting the right menus," Ellison said. "Or I would send people in as 'secret eaters.' They could eat whatever they wanted. I just wanted to make sure that they got the right menu for that section."
Because she stopped by the restaurant every day to pick up receipts, Ellison said she was able to get additional information directly from the servers. "They said that people talked about the traffic lights a lot. And we did find that larger tables which received the traffic light menus did order fewer calories, on average, which suggests there was some peer pressure to order lower-calorie items," she said.
Receipt data was analyzed using a random utility framework, where the utility, or happiness, each individual receives from his or her food choice depends not only on the characteristics of that choice (such as item price, calories, etc.), but also on the characteristics of the choices of one's peers.
"The big takeaway from this research is that people were happier if they were making similar choices to those sitting around them," Ellison said. "If my peers are ordering higher-calorie items or spending more money, then I am also happier, or at least less unhappy, if I order higher-calorie foods and spend more money.
"The most interesting thing we found was that no matter how someone felt about the category originally, even if it was initially a source of unhappiness, such as the items in the salad category, this unhappiness was offset when others had ordered within the same category," Ellison said. "Given this finding, we thought it would almost be better to nudge people toward healthier friends than healthier foods."
One piece of information that wasn't included in the data is who ordered first at each table. Ellison said she wants to have this piece of information the next time she runs a similar experiment. "Previous studies have shown that if you don't have to order audibly, everyone just gets what they want without any peer pressure involved," she said. "Research suggests that you should always order first because the first person is the only one who truly gets what they want."
###
"I'll Have What He's Having": Group Ordering Behavior in Food Choice Decisions was presented at the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association's 2013 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Jayson Lusk contributed to the conceptualization of the work. Ellison gathered the data while at Oklahoma State University but did the analysis in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the U of I.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Why hello, Mr. Grey! Jamie Dornan stepped out in London on Friday, Oct. 25, looking scruffy and casual, just two days after it was revealed that he would be replacing Charlie Hunnam in the film adaptation of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey.
Mysterious and handsome -- just like his character! -- the Irish actor and model surfaced wearing dark blue jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a black peacoat. The brunette hunk, 31, also tried to keep a low profile by wearing shades during the outing.
It was confirmed earlier in the week that the former Once Upon a Time actor would be gearing up to star in the S&M trilogy alongside Dakota Johnson in the Sam Taylor-Wood directed film. "Stow your twitchy palms ladies...our man is here. Welcome to #TeamFifty @JamieDornan1 x," James would later confirm via Twitter.
"Jamie has a really good reputation as someone easy to work with, easy going and is seen as someone who will be very appreciative of this role," a source told Us Weekly of Dornan. "It's his charm and personality that is winning people over."
One day earlier, Johnson stepped out herself shortly before news broke that her Anastasia Steele had a leading man once again. The actress, 24, sizzled in a black and blue dress (with a lingerie-inspired bustier top!) at the CFDA & Vogue Fashion Fund Event in West Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 23. A second insider added: "She's ready for this role."
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 22-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Leslie Shepherd
shepherdl@smh.ca
416-864-6094
St. Michael's Hospital
TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2013Although homeless people account for a small proportion of Emergency Department visits, a small group of them are extremely high users and have multiple complex health care needs, new research has found.
During a four-year study conducted by St. Michael's Hospital, almost 900 homeless adults had more than 8,500 ED visits, roughly two per person per year. But 60 per cent of those visits were made by only 10 per cent of the participants in the study, who had an average 12 trips to the ED each year.
Compared to the low-income population of Toronto, homeless participants in this study visited an ED more than eight times as often.
The research led by Dr. Stephen Hwang of the hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health was published in three papers today in a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health devoted to homelessness and public health, one looking at the overall health care use by homeless people and two others examining factors that predict frequent ED use and hospitalizations. All three papers used data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, where Dr. Hwang is an adjunct scientist.
The study also found that single homeless women were more likely than single homeless men to have made at least one ED visit during the study and that homeless adults with families (mostly women with dependent children) were far less likely to be frequent users.
Single homeless women generally have a higher prevalence of mental illness, while single homeless men have a higher prevalence of substance abuse. Homeless mothers generally have lower rates of both, which may partially explain why families in this study had lower rates of ED use.
Other factors significantly associated with any ED use were: being born in Canada, having higher monthly income, perceived unmet needs for mental health care, lack of belief in the ability to control one's health and poorer physical health status.
Immigrants and members of visible minority groups were half as likely to use ED services, possibly because homeless recent immigrants tend to be healthier than homeless people who are born in Canada. Dr. Hwang said it's also possible that factors related to language, awareness of services, socio-economic barriers and perceived discrimination or stigma may deter those individuals from visiting the ED.
Surprisingly, higher monthly incomes were associated with a greater likelihood of frequent ED use. Dr. Hwang said these individuals may be engaging in risk behaviours, such as binge drinking or drug use, following receipt of social support payments.
Dr. Hwang said previous studies have shown that interventions such as intensive case management or housing first programs, that move homeless people immediately into stable housing, have the potential to reduce ED use, lower costs and improve social and clinical outcomes among the frequent users. He said more research is needed to determine whether those interventions would also work for the general homeless population.
"Reducing frequent emergency health care use among homeless persons will require sustained efforts to reduce unmet needs for health care, particularly for mental health services, and improvement in the coordination of care across health and social services," he said.
###
This research project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About St. Michael's Hospital
St Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
For more information or to interview Dr. Hwang, contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Communications and Public Affairs Department
St. Michael's Hospital
416-864-6094
shepherdl@smh.ca
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
Video, photos and texts of the studies are available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/982d0d90qvkh903/kqqZOtoqdk
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 22-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Leslie Shepherd
shepherdl@smh.ca
416-864-6094
St. Michael's Hospital
TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2013Although homeless people account for a small proportion of Emergency Department visits, a small group of them are extremely high users and have multiple complex health care needs, new research has found.
During a four-year study conducted by St. Michael's Hospital, almost 900 homeless adults had more than 8,500 ED visits, roughly two per person per year. But 60 per cent of those visits were made by only 10 per cent of the participants in the study, who had an average 12 trips to the ED each year.
Compared to the low-income population of Toronto, homeless participants in this study visited an ED more than eight times as often.
The research led by Dr. Stephen Hwang of the hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health was published in three papers today in a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health devoted to homelessness and public health, one looking at the overall health care use by homeless people and two others examining factors that predict frequent ED use and hospitalizations. All three papers used data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, where Dr. Hwang is an adjunct scientist.
The study also found that single homeless women were more likely than single homeless men to have made at least one ED visit during the study and that homeless adults with families (mostly women with dependent children) were far less likely to be frequent users.
Single homeless women generally have a higher prevalence of mental illness, while single homeless men have a higher prevalence of substance abuse. Homeless mothers generally have lower rates of both, which may partially explain why families in this study had lower rates of ED use.
Other factors significantly associated with any ED use were: being born in Canada, having higher monthly income, perceived unmet needs for mental health care, lack of belief in the ability to control one's health and poorer physical health status.
Immigrants and members of visible minority groups were half as likely to use ED services, possibly because homeless recent immigrants tend to be healthier than homeless people who are born in Canada. Dr. Hwang said it's also possible that factors related to language, awareness of services, socio-economic barriers and perceived discrimination or stigma may deter those individuals from visiting the ED.
Surprisingly, higher monthly incomes were associated with a greater likelihood of frequent ED use. Dr. Hwang said these individuals may be engaging in risk behaviours, such as binge drinking or drug use, following receipt of social support payments.
Dr. Hwang said previous studies have shown that interventions such as intensive case management or housing first programs, that move homeless people immediately into stable housing, have the potential to reduce ED use, lower costs and improve social and clinical outcomes among the frequent users. He said more research is needed to determine whether those interventions would also work for the general homeless population.
"Reducing frequent emergency health care use among homeless persons will require sustained efforts to reduce unmet needs for health care, particularly for mental health services, and improvement in the coordination of care across health and social services," he said.
###
This research project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
About St. Michael's Hospital
St Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
For more information or to interview Dr. Hwang, contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Communications and Public Affairs Department
St. Michael's Hospital
416-864-6094
shepherdl@smh.ca
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
Video, photos and texts of the studies are available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/982d0d90qvkh903/kqqZOtoqdk
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A 2008 photo of the offshore supply ship C-Retriever.
A 2008 photo of the offshore supply ship C-Retriever.
Rebels in Nigeria are reportedly in contact with pirates holding two U.S. crewmen seized from the offshore supply vessel C-Retriever earlier this week, The Associated Press reports.
The AP says that an email reportedly from the rebel group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says the men were captured off the coast of the Nigerian town of Brass, but there were no details of demands or a ransom.
Officials have said the captain and an engineer from the U.S.-flagged vessel were seized during an attack in the Gulf of Guinea on Wednesday.
The Nigerian navy, which reports freeing at least two other hostages this year and killing several pirates, says it's searching for the kidnapped men.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: "We are seeking additional information so that we can contribute to the safe resolution of the situation."
"More broadly, we are concerned by the disturbing increase in the incidence of maritime crime, including incidents of piracy off the coast of West Africa, specifically in the Gulf of Guinea," Carney said.
The West African coast has been a hotspot for piracy second only to the Somali coast and the Indian Ocean.
"An official of the private security firm, AKE Group, of Hereford, England, said the attack on the vessel, identified as the C-Retriever, took place near the Nigerian city of Brass, where the oil-rich Niger Delta empties into the Gulf of Guinea, in West Africa. The official, based in AKE Group's office in Lagos, Nigeria, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
'All we know is this attack happened, and these were the people who were kidnapped,' the official said by telephone. He said he did not know the identities of the two hostages.
A spokesman for the Nigerian Navy, Cmdr. Kabiru Aliyu, confirmed the piracy attack. 'The Nigerian Navy has directed its operational command to search for and rescue the vessel and the crew members," he said. "Right now, the search is going on, and we are tracking down the culprits. We don't know how it was carried out.'"
